Turkey drops resistance to Sweden and Finland joining NATO
***This article is being updated.
In an eleventh-hour deal, Turkey after weeks of opposition on Tuesday (28 June) announced it will lift its veto and support the application of Finland and Sweden to join NATO during the alliance’s summit in Madrid.
“I am pleased to announce that we have an agreement that paves the way for Sweden and Finland to join NATO,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters on Tuesday evening in Madrid.
The three countries’ foreign ministers signed a memorandum of understanding in Madrid on Tuesday evening, ahead of a two-day meeting of NATO leaders.
“Our foreign ministers signed a trilateral memorandum which confirms that Türkiye will at the Madrid Summit this week support the invitation of Finland and Sweden to become members of NATO,” Finnish President Sauli Niinistö said in a statement.
“Our joint memorandum underscores the commitment of Finland, Sweden and Türkiye to extend their full support against threats to each other’s security,” the Finnish leader added.
“Us becoming NATO Allies will further strengthen this commitment,” he added.
In May, both nations, which already meet many of the requirements to be NATO members, began the formal process of applying to the alliance.
“Tomorrow allied leaders will make the decision to invite Finland and Sweden to join NATO to become NATO members and following this summit,” Stoltenberg said.
According to NATO procedures, both Nordic countries will now become invitees and will have to follow the alliances’ ratification process. All 30 NATO members must now approve a country’s bid for it to be accepted into the alliance, which in many of them involves national parliaments having to give their green light.
Tuesday’s memorandum, whose commitments are set to be fleshed out over the next two summit days, both Nordic countries commit to addressing Turkey’s security concerns.
“As NATO Allies, Finland and Sweden commit to fully support Türkiye against threats to its national security. This includes further amending their domestic legislation, cracking down on PKK activities and entering into an agreement with Türkiye on extradition,” Stoltenberg told reporters.
After landing in Madrid, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan held hours of talks with Finnish President Sauli Niinistö, Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.
The accession of the two highly advanced militaries, which have already worked closely with NATO for years as partners to the military alliance, was initially thought to be a done deal when the traditionally neutral nations decided to apply for NATO membership following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Turkey’s unexpected objections to the two Nordic countries’ membership bid, which if successful would be the biggest shift in European security in decades, have threatened to overshadow a summit striving for unity as Russia wages war in Ukraine.
Ankara’s main demands are for the Nordic countries to stop supporting Kurdish militant groups present on their territory, and to lift their bans on some sales of arms to Turkey.
Before leaving for Madrid, Erdoğan held firm on his stance, saying Turkey wanted action, not words, to address its concerns, adding he would also push Biden on an F-16 fighter jet purchase.
Asked by reporters whether weapons acquisition has been part of the discussion, Stoltenberg said nothing else has been agreed upon beyond the memorandum.
“I don’t believe that allies should have arms embargoes against each other – and I’ve said that for many years,” Stoltenberg added.
Security shift in Europe
The move “sends a very clear message to President Putin that NATO’s door is open,” Stoltenberg told reporters in Madrid.
“He wanted less NATO, now President Putin is getting more NATO, on his borders. So what he gets is the opposite of what he actually demanded,” he added.
NATO officials believe that with Finland and Sweden’s looming accession to NATO, there is an opportunity to close strategic gaps in the Baltic Sea region.
The alliance hopes that admitting both countries into its fold will give them a better scope to protect the Eastern Flank with additional maritime and air assets the two Nordic nations have to offer.
Baltic States have long worried about Finnish and Swedish islands in the Baltic Sea potentially being used as bases to attack them. The strategically located Swedish island of Gotland, for example, is crucial for the defence of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.
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